Area Information - Penn Valley
Penn Valley is a community
located in Nevada County, California USA at latitude 39.196 and
longitude -121.191. The elevation is 1,401 feet. Penn Valley
appears on the Rough & Ready U.S. Geological Survey Map. Penn
Valley had a population of 1,387 with 561 housing units; a land
area land area of 2.1 sq. miles; a water area of 0 sq. miles;
and a population density of 659.32 people per sq. mile for
Census 2000. As of 2009, Penn Valley’s (zip 95946) population is
9,562 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 8.36
percent. If these population numbers don’t seem quite right to
you, I believe this Zip code now includes the Subdivision of
Lake Wildwood in the current census projections.
The first residents of Penn Valley were the Maidu Indians. They
camped along the streams and natural springs. You can still see
the large boulders with the rounded holes that were used to
grind the acorns, alongside the creeks. Legend has it that the
first mention of Penn Valley happened back in 1848. A man named
Jonas Spect wrote that while prospecting up Deer Creek he came
upon this finest kind of valley which he thought afterwards they
called Pen Valley, but nothing that occurred here would be of
interest.
According to a legend, Penn Valley got its’ name from the fact a
livestock “pen” was built there in the early days. For lack of a
better name, folks started calling it “Pen Valley”. An extra “n”
was added sometime later and it finally became “Penn Valley”.
During the Gold Rush days, Penn Valley never could brag about
any great Bonanzas. But, Penn Valley did get the reputation as
‘The Pantry of the Northern Mines’. Discouraged miners left the
boomtowns and gold mines, and pioneered the valley to seek
riches from a different source - agriculture. They traded their
gold pans for ploughs, and turned Penn Valley into lush grazing
lands, orchards, and farms. Penn Valley became rich in
agriculture with lots of beef and dairy cattle. Its prime
location between Sacramento and Marysville on the way to the
Motherlode mines made it an ideal stopover place to obtain meat,
produce, fruit, and supplies. Livery stables and Blacksmith
services were also available. When the mining operations cut
back, Penn Valley was able to survive while a lot of the towns
totally dependent on mining became virtual ghost towns.
Today, Penn Valley has some wonderful horse and ranch property.
Lake Wildwood is a very upscale gated community with its own
private lake and golf course and is located a mile or so north
of Highway 20 on Pleasant Valley Road.
The Penn Valley Chamber of Commerce provides great services to
local businesses, and rumor has it that a convention center
could soon come to Penn Valley, complete with a full service
hotel.
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